


make me feel like i'm incompetent

by baecobz



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Romance, Unrequited Love, honestly daehwi puts up w So Much he deserves better, lapslock, meanwhile woojins tired and gay, not as angsty as it sounds i promise!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-29 09:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13924017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baecobz/pseuds/baecobz
Summary: woojin has a bit of an issue- it starts with his best friend, and ends with his first love.but what do you do when the distance between the start and the end is zero?(or: woojin has a major crush on jihoon, and daehwi's tired of watching him pine.)





	make me feel like i'm incompetent

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [TMYOUTHFW](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TMYOUTHFW) collection. 



over the past few months, woojin has spent an embarrassing amount of time tripping.

while he doesn’t really think it’s a big deal, daehwi (the world’s most traitorous “friend”) can’t stop telling everyone he knows about how woojin’s too busy staring at jihoon to remember how to walk. as if the tripping wasn’t mortifying enough by itself (his cheeks burn when he remembers just how many times he’s tripped in the cafeteria on a tuesday alone), daehwi just _has_ to bring jihoon into it.

still, it’s a lie for a number of reasons.

one, woojin’s sure that he doesn’t trip as often as his anxiety wants him to believe; when he does, it’s just because his shoelaces were untied or there was a rock on the ground- something like that. it happens to everyone.

two, he has the focus of a-

hmm.

well, he has the focus of someone with a lot of focus. that being said, he doesn’t get distracted by annoying pretty boys that get off on forcing the student body to fall in love with them.

but third and most importantly, he doesn’t stare at jihoon to begin with. if he does, it’s only because jihoon’s making a dumb expression, and not because he’s smiling and swinging hands with some equally stupid upperclassman. because woojin doesn’t care about jihoon enough to be making heart eyes at him all the time, so fuck you, lee daehwi.

“stop glaring at me, oh my god,” daehwi groans, and woojin acquiesces only so he can go back to eating his food in peace, “just accept the fact that you’re a total hoe for jihoon and get on with it! it’s not that big of a deal.”

“not that big of a deal?” woojin echoes, dropping his fork. he thinks he sees something like fear in daehwi’s eyes. _good_ . “you’re spreading preschool-level lies about me and my _best friend_ ; what the fuck, dude? that’s a pretty big deal.” he crosses his arms over his chest (since he’s very mature, thank you), and daehwi pouts.

“wait a second, _he’s_ your best friend? not me?” woojin throws a piece of his chicken at his now ex-friend. “geez, okay, fine. if it’s so important to you, i’ll drop it.” daehwi mumbles, and he has that look on his face that means he really is sorry. woojin hesitates in his seat. “i really just think that maybe you should-”

“ _daehwi_ ,” woojin groans. daehwi puts his hands up in surrender just in time to put woojin back in a good mood as jihoon slides into the seat next to him.

“hey woojin, hey daehwi.” jihoon hums, only to immediately stuff his face full of noodles. woojin snorts at the sight, handing one of his napkins to jihoon when said boy spills some of his soup onto his shirt. daehwi gives him a pointed look, but woojin ignores it in favor of stealing a spoonful of noodles from jihoon’s bowl while he’s distracted.

daehwi coughs, even more pointedly than his narrowed gaze, and woojin takes one of the dumplings from the younger boy’s plate just to be fair.

 _crushes_ his ass; woojin’s a hungry guy and he doesn’t discriminate.

“fuck you.” jihoon rasps out once he (finally) swallows down his food. he punches woojin’s shoulder, but he’s smiling, and woojin smiles back.

“oh my god,” daehwi says, and woojin wonders why he’s friends with someone who never even contributes anything to their conversations, “i’m leaving, bye.”

“get lost, nerd. ha, nerd-hwi.” woojin grabs another dumpling before daehwi picks up his plate to go. jihoon punches him again, harder, and woojin winces.

“bye, daehwi! i’ll see you in lecture tomorrow.” jihoon waves cheerfully, his other hand pinching woojin’s thigh under the table. it’s a wonder why anyone likes jihoon when the kid is a not-so-secret devil in disguise, but life is full of wonders, so who knows?

once daehwi’s out of earshot, jihoon finally retracts his hand (and his stupidly sharp nails) and resumes stuffing his face. “don’t be so mean.” he says between mouthfuls; if woojin weren’t so used to deciphering jihoon trying-and-failing to talk with his mouth full, he wouldn’t be able to roll his eyes in response and elbow jihoon in the side.

“stop being mean to _me_.” woojin pushes jihoon to the side so he can grab another spoonful of food - soup, this time - and grins when jihoon complains in his usual gibberish. “shouldn’t you be going to work?” he says it as casually as he can, wiping at his mouth and ignoring the way jihoon blinks back at him. “you said you had work tonight, didn’t you? so get going and leave the rest of your food behind.”

“ _dude_ ,” jihoon sighs dreamily, and for a second woojin thinks he can feel his heart stop, “i can’t believe you remembered! but my shift actually got bumped back a bit, so i don’t have to leave for a little longer. but wow, you actually listen to me! that’s so sweet!”

“me, listening to you? it’s more likely than you think.” ( _ah yes_ , woojin thinks briefly, _because referencing memes is the way to deal with your feelings. great_.) jihoon leans his head on woojin’s shoulder, laughing quietly before (too quickly) shifting away and going back to his plate. “i don’t even know where you work, though. but yeah, don’t be so surprised that i have ears, pretty boy.”

jihoon wrinkles his nose in response, gulping down his food to pout. it’s much cuter than when daehwi does it, although daehwi claims it’s because woojin’s biased. (yeah, biased _against daehwi_ , maybe.)

“stop calling me that. it’s a stupid insult, you know.”

“it’s not an insult.” woojin replies mechanically. they’ve had this conversation a dozen times before, but it hasn’t changed since the first time they had it. woojin doesn’t quite understand what jihoon has against the nickname; it might be derogatory somehow, if someone used it with enough venom in their words, but woojin always says it with the same amount of harshness that he does anything else. it’s not meant to be an insult, just a fact. jihoon’s a pretty boy, and woojin likes to point it out.

“whatever you say, jock.”

now _that_ is new.

“jock?” raising an eyebrow, woojin stares at his friend. “i’m a _jock_? since when?”

“oh you’re right, sorry. you’re not just a jock: you’re a dumb jock.” jihoon smiles (prettily) and woojin huffs. “c’mon, don’t tell me that you don’t see it. you dance and play sports, you’re a gym rat, you’re barely passing your classes, you spend an absurd amount of time getting wasted at frat parties, and all you do is ogle cheerleaders. you’re the definition of a dumb jock.”

woojin gapes at him.

his brain is so overwhelmed that he literally doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say in response; somewhere between “i’m not dumb” and “i don’t even go to the gym that often”, he manages,

“i don’t ogle cheerleaders.”

jihoon looks unimpressed.

“then why do you always stare at their asses when they do flips?” jihoon tips back his cup, eyes never leaving woojin’s. woojin has to bite his cheek to stop from- from doing _something_ , he doesn’t really know. but the look in jihoon’s gaze makes something uncomfortable shift in his gut.

“i don’t stare at their asses.” woojin chokes out, tearing his eyes away from his plate to frown up at his supposed friend. “i’m watching the actual flips! not everything is about trying to get laid.” it takes a moment for him to regain a semblance of his normal confidence rather than his panicked defensiveness, but he manages. _just be normal_ , he reminds himself. _you’re friends_.

“it might be if you could actually get someone to sleep with you.” jihoon’s smile is way too cocky at this point, and woojin nearly brains himself on the table. it’s a good thing that daehwi already left, because he’d be having a fucking _field day_ right now if he were still here. “that’s not an offer, by the way, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“i don’t want to sleep with anyone, let alone you.” is the cafeteria a little hot? it must be. too many people crammed together inside, or something like that. woojin tugs at his sleeves and wonders what he could’ve possibly done to end up in a situation like this. “now fuck off, pretty boy. even if you don’t have work yet, i have to get to class soon.”

“hurry up; you don’t want to be late.” jihoon looks a little disappointed, but any hint of it fades quickly to make way for a too-wide grin and a wave of his hand. “not sure why it matters when you’re failing your classes anyways.” woojin knocks his arm against jihoon’s, desperate to replace his friend’s smile with something genuine and warm and _familiar_. jihoon’s expression doesn’t change, and woojin feels something uncomfortable lurch in his throat. while he’s agonizingly accustomed to watching jihoon’s acting firsthand (months of mortifying drama camp practice can do that to someone, even if they were both preteens at the time), he’s not quite used to being unable to put a crack in jihoon’s facade.

“when do you get off work tonight?” woojin tries, leaning an elbow on jihoon’s shoulder in a last-ditch effort to remedy whatever’s going on. as much as he’d like to stay, he really can’t afford to miss class, especially when he’s already struggling enough as is. (a part of him hisses that he’s just too nervous around jihoon when the other boy is like this; too flustered and worried and _emotional_ , all of which he’s terrified to let jihoon see. woojin brushes that thought aside and focuses on his dropping gpa instead.) “my roommate’s spending the night at their friend’s, so we could hang out then. i heard omega phi is having a thing; wanna come with?”

jihoon laughs, and even in all its emptiness, it makes woojin’s heartbeat double.

“and watch you get plastered enough to make out with some guy? no thanks. i only went along with you that last time because it was hilarious to see you spouting constant ‘no homo’ bullshit for the next few days.”

“no hetero,” woojin coughs under his breath, “but dude. we could always just hang out in my room and maybe check out a movie on netflix or something. you know, netflix and chill.”

it’s a desperate plea; woojin barely uses his netflix to begin with, and both he and jihoon know that he gets unbearably overwhelmed with all of the choices that it has to offer. he’s so clearly desperate to just spend more time with jihoon, to smooth over whatever bumps have been putting jihoon on edge, and there’s still that part of woojin that’s struck with the urge to just stand up right now and sprint to class. ( _you’re doing it again_ , that same stupid part of himself says, _just admit that you care and stop acting like a kid._ woojin slaps himself in the head - not in real life, because jihoon would have even less reasons to be friends with him - and pretends that the voice doesn’t sound a suspicious amount like daehwi.)

“i get off work late.” jihoon says.

woojin’s entire body feels stiff as he nods in response, too stuck on the way that jihoon won’t even fucking _look at him_ to recognize that that’s the very excuse that jihoon had long since admitted to using when he’s avoiding someone.

that realization doesn’t happen until later, when he’s half-asleep in class with his tired fingers itching to text jihoon and bother him during his shift.

his hands still in his pockets and his chest aches.

 _fuck_.

 

\--

 

a few days later, and it feels like the entire school has noticed that their relationship has gotten tense. even daehwi, self-proclaimed captain of the “pink sausages” ship, avoids even mentioning jihoon’s name around woojin.

“tell you what,” daehwi says softly, looking up at woojin from his spot in the older boy’s lap, “why don’t you try dating? it’ll be a good distractor, and a good outlet for all of your dumb jokes and ridiculous competitiveness.” woojin snorts, but he doesn’t dignify the suggestion with any other response. honestly, he’s not really in the mood to date right now (or ever, his brain supplies, unless it’s with jihoon) ( _fuck you_ he tells his brain right before mentally strangling it with a pillow).

“no thanks.” he finally replies, if only because daehwi keeps looking at him pathetically.

“please? i know the perfect guy. you’re both made for each other.” woojin gives him a skeptical look. “seriously! he’s super cute, sweet but mischievous enough that he won’t get on your nerves, and did i mention that he’s cute?”

“no.” woojin repeats, and he can’t stop the edge in his voice before he says it. daehwi flinches away, pulling himself further from woojin, and he sighs. “sorry, i didn’t mean to snap at you. i’m just not in the mood right now.” he tugs at daehwi’s arm and tries to have the younger boy (reluctantly) fall back into his space. “maybe some other time, okay?”

“okay.” daehwi says quietly. he leans his head against woojin’s shoulder, still careful in every spot that they touch, and woojin hums in response.

 

\--

 

it’s not even a few days later when daehwi brings it up again.

this time, they’re in a big enough group setting where woojin can’t just brush it aside in the same way as before- he’s sandwiched between sungwoon (who’s making out with his hand on a dare) and daniel (who looks way too happy wearing a pair of cat ears- from a dare that minhyun had given him a week ago).

jihoon’s sitting across the circle from him, practically drowning in a bright yellow sweater that makes him look like he’s glowing. he’s still polite to woojin, but there’s a certain uncomfortableness to their interactions that stops woojin from confronting him for the entire evening.

they’re all playing never have i ever, because apparently they never progressed past middle school, and daehwi is looking right at him when he says, “never have i ever refused to go on a blind date with someone even though i know the other person would be _perfect_ for me.”

woojin puts a slow, reluctant finger down. he’s finally come to admit that yeah, maybe his rocky relationship with jihoon right now is the reason he’s so hesitant to be set up, but that’s just because jihoon’s his closest friend. that’s all there is to it.

jihoon stares at him from across the circle, and woojin knows that’s not true.

daehwi seems to notice, and it’s only a few seconds later that he’s demanding that they all switch back to playing truth or dare. everyone acquiesces, if only because it’s daehwi and everyone’s a little soft for him (whether they’d like to admit it or not). unsurprisingly, daehwi insists on going first, and even less surprisingly, he dares woojin to go on the blind date.

woojin doesn’t even miss a beat before turning to minhyun and asking what the penalty is for refusing to do a dare, and he pretends not to notice the way that both daehwi and jihoon are staring at him. he can handle a little attention.

“the guy works at an ice cream shop!” daehwi blurts out, and although its randomness is enough to make woojin snap back around to stare at his friend, he’s not quite sure if it should’ve warranted the bug-eyed look jihoon has on his face.

“ _daehwi_ ,” jihoon hisses desperately just as woojin offers a confused “what the _fuck_?”

(if his reaction comes in part from the way jihoon is practically pleading across the room, no one needs to know.)

said boy only wiggles his eyebrows in response, throwing the two of them an embarrassingly forced wink.

“um.” minhyun cuts in. “stop swearing, woojin. and if it’s just asking someone out, there’s no skipping.” woojin groans and flops over, letting himself completely collapse onto minhyun’s lap. “no complaining, woojin. if you have an actual reason not to, then it’s fine- but it honestly sounds like you’re whining for no reason.”

woojin rolls his eyes, but in a way he knows that minhyun’s right; until he’s willing to admit that he might have an unbearably ginormous crush on his best friend, he doesn’t really have a reason to refuse. even so, he can’t help the bitterness that grows in his throat at the prospect of trying to see someone else, especially when jihoon already occupies enough of his time by just existing and being so fucking _pretty_.

jihoon’s eyes seem to sparkle from the other side of the room, and woojin can feel his throat run dry.

minhyun seems to notice woojin’s rising panic (truly the hero that woojin needs but doesn’t deserve) and he helps prop the younger boy up, waving daehwi’s protests aside. the rest of the group manages to pick up on the way woojin ducks his head behind minhyun (even jaehwan, and he’s spent the entire night engrossed in his phone). he vaguely registers some flimsy excuses being tossed around before he’s being pulled into the kitchen and minhyun is putting a glass of water into his hands.

“if you want to talk about it, i’m always here.” minhyun ruffles woojin’s hair- then he’s gone just as quickly, making his way back to their friends as seongwoo imitates what woojin thinks might be guanlin’s dancing.

he sits on the counter for awhile, making himself comfortable as he swirls the water in his cup. on one hand, it’s not like it’s that big of a deal if he just goes on one date. he doubts daehwi even knows his Taste anyways, so he probably won’t even get along with the stranger. on the other hand, he already has enough trouble just trying to feign interest in other people; it’s not a surprise how unhumanly perfect jihoon is, but it also means that woojin’s constantly comparing all of his classmates and neighbors to his too-gorgeous, too-funny, too-kind friend.

 _platonic_ friend, he reminds himself.

his chest aches, so he gulps down half the glass and sets it down with a sigh.

“what do you have against daehwi’s dare?”

woojin nearly falls off the countertop and smashes his head into the ground, his only saving grace being his quick reflexes (thank you, soccer) and two arms and a smile next to him.

“sorry, didn’t think i’d surprise you that much.” jihoon’s laughing, but something about it makes woojin’s entire body just _hurt_ , and he has to pinch himself to stop from downing the rest of his water in an attempt to busy himself.

“you’re fine.” woojin mutters. jihoon laughs again, and the uncomfortable feeling comes back in full force. “but, ah, i’m just not really into asking some random stranger out just because daehwi wants me to.”

jihoon lifts an eyebrow in response, curious.

“you don’t know anything about him?” woojin shakes his head, and jihoon whistles in response. “why don’t you give it a try? you might be surprised.” jihoon tilts his head in the way that makes him somehow look even cuter, sliding onto the counter to sit beside woojin.

(the fatal combination of his expression and proximity makes woojin want  to scream into his fist. somehow, he controls himself. he’s honestly a little proud of that.)

“what, are you trying to get rid of me?” he nudges jihoon with his elbow, hoping the quiver in his voice is lost in the bass pounding in the background. even so, there’s still an undeniable hesitancy there that he knows jihoon doesn’t miss- not when the older boy is sitting so close and looking at him so carefully.

“you know i wouldn’t.” jihoon’s too honest sometimes, always catching woojin off guard with his blatant affection or admittance. he never really knows how to react, always frozen dumbstruck and confused in jihoon’s spotlight. “you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but you should give it a shot.” he slides off the counter as gracefully as he came onto it, throwing one last wink over his shoulder before making his way back to their friends.

if woojin weren’t so preoccupied with his own throbbing heartbeat or shaking hands, he might have noticed the doubt in jihoon’s eyes, or the flicker of insecurity before an all-too-forced wink was sent his way. but woojin’s nothing if not absorbed in his own worries.

 

\--

 

the incident at the party gives woojin a few weeks before daehwi brings it up again.

this time, woojin is scribbling notes onto post-its and absentmindedly waiting for daehwi to stop by for a joint study session. while part of him knows there’s a chance that daehwi will mention the guy again, he’s hoping he still has more time before they’re back to square one.

when daehwi nearly slams the door open to announce his presence, he knows it’s not the case.

“listen up, you cold hearted bitch,” daehwi yells, unceremoniously throwing himself over woojin’s shoulders, “ask the guy out. you’re literally _meant to be_.”

“then he can ask _me_ out.” woojin snaps back, not even glancing up to see the pout he already knows is on daehwi’s face. he has a test to study for, sue him. “besides, him working at coldstone really isn’t grounds for soulmates.” he doesn’t even bother asking where this came from- he knows daehwi well enough to realize that sometimes daehwi just works himself up about some old topic without anything new happening.

“but it’s _coldstone_. and you are, like i said, a cold hearted bitch! obviously, you two are a great match. not to mention the fact that you’re a geology major- i’m telling you, it’s meant to be!”

“if i had known you’d use my own major against me in this, i never would’ve told you what it was.” woojin pretends not to see daehwi’s shaking hand when he flips woojin off. daehwi may only be a year younger than him, but he’s still got the heart and softness of a kid. “besides, i’m just- i’m really not interested in seeing anyone.” _anyone who’s not jihoon_ , his mind adds. he slaps himself and ignores the look of concern daehwi gives him.

“hyung, i know you like jihoon,” daehwi puts a hand to woojin’s mouth when he moves to interrupt him, because although he’s finally starting to admit those feelings, it’s still embarrassing and unfamiliar and _difficult_ , “but you can’t spend the rest of your life pining over him, especially since you won’t do anything about it! just go on one date with this guy, please.”

there’s a look in daehwi’s eyes, a note in his voice that tinges on desperation, and woojin wants so badly to have daehwi relax and stop worrying. but he sees a hint of pink out of the corner of his eye and it’s just enough to remind him of jihoon all over again.

even if he just ends up spending the rest of his life in one-sided heart-wrenching misery, at least it’d be by jihoon’s side instead of someone else’s. call him whipped, but he’s come far too accustomed to jihoon’s presence in his life to give it up so easily.

“maybe some other time.” he says finally, but he and daehwi both know it means _not today and not ever_. daehwi nods quietly in response, surprisingly accepting despite his previous insistence, instead focusing on picking at his nails and swinging his legs under his chair.

(woojin figures that it’ll only be a week or so before daehwi starts bringing it up again, so he doesn’t question it.)

 

\--

 

as it turns out, it only takes a few days before daehwi mentions it again, only this time, he’s tugging on jihoon’s sleeve and begging him to help convince woojin.

honestly, if jihoon really did want him to, woojin would consider it, but there’s something so cautious in the way that jihoon agrees alongside daehwi that makes the whole situation feel a whole lot less sure. woojin’s not sure what exact doubts are stopping jihoon from giving his full encouragement, but it’s enough to make him hesitate regardless.

it’s only after another few moments filled with daehwi’s arguing (he even has a _powerpoint_ now, although it’s half filled with memes and heart emojis) that jihoon seems to come to a consensus and speaks up with some sort of finality.

“ask him out.” he says. daehwi stops mid-sentence to gape at jihoon with wide-eyed and barely concealed joy. “he’ll make you happy.”

woojin can only feel his entire heart shatter beneath the weight of jihoon’s words, under the hidden _he will and i won’t_. jihoon’s looking at him with the same bright, piercing eyes that he fell in love with, but instead of butterflies it only gives woojin a hurricane, tearing his bones apart. he forces a nod and a smile, a last-ditch effort to not be so obviously crushed by the notion of jihoon happily sending woojin away to date someone else.

they’ve talked about it before- albeit briefly and in a group setting, but--- they had agreed that if and when one of them started to date around, their friendship would start to come second. even after years of late night phone calls and impromptu road trips, romance has a way of replacing familiar faces with rose-tinted ones, so both woojin and jihoon agreed not to have hard feelings over any inevitable growing distances.

jihoon’s still looking at him with those eyes, and woojin is struck with the fact that even if he can recognize when his friend is replaced with an actor-like substitute, he can never quite figure out what jihoon’s really feeling or thinking underneath his mask. after all, it may be easy enough to see that it’s fake, but to see what’s not is a bit more difficult.

at this point woojin still hasn’t said anything though, so he steels himself for another moment of numbing eye contact:

“okay.” he manages weakly. he’s only able to last a few seconds of heartbreaking anxiety before he fakes a phone call- it gives him an excuse to speed walk out of the room with a (fake) look of apology, still knowing he’s imagining the concern on jihoon’s face.

he’ll deal with it later.

(later comes when he’s curled up in bed, hand running through his hair as he questions why he’s only acceptable as a friend and nothing more- what there could be that’s so unlovable about him that would stop jihoon from ever wanting to cross that line. after all, friendship and romance have bare heartbeats separating them, and woojin had already crossed that distance awhile back, so why couldn’t jihoon?)

 

\--

 

the next day means daehwi is dragging him to coldstone, going on and on about how much he’ll like the guy there, how cute they’ll be together, the whole jazz. woojin knows his own trudging footsteps are loud enough for daehwi to hear, but the younger boy doesn’t comment on it- just continues on to remind woojin that this is _good for him, just you wait and see_.

a tiny part of his head knows daehwi too well, knows that daehwi knows _him_ too well, and if they wait for days to pass until woojin’s mentally and emotionally prepared, he’ll keep coming with excuse after excuse to avoid going out. the longer they wait, the higher his worries build up, so they both realize that if they go sooner, woojin might actually go through with it.

despite all that, woojin still finds himself wishing they could push it back a little longer, maybe so that he could have more time to sulk over his unrequited love with his best friend.

“we’re here!” daehwi chirps, chipper enough to snap woojin out of his moping. the _coldstone_ sign glares down at them, bright and bold enough to somehow make him even more nervous than before.

when they step inside, woojin can’t help but give a quick peek at the store’s signs and decorations: he wonders if daehwi’s friend set any of them up, and what that says about him--- and then, of course, he finds himself wondering if jihoon would pick any of the decor himself, or if he’d choose something strange on purpose just to laugh at when he got bored at work.

his gaze drifts over to the lone worker behind the counter, waving at them happily and tidying up the area by the cash register.

he is a little cute, probably around his age, but woojin can’t help but look for familiar sparkling eyes or a glowing smile.

“hold on.” daehwi murmurs, and as he goes forward to whisper to the worker, woojin shuffles awkwardly in his spot by the ice cream displays, staring down at the mint chocolate chip and wondering if he could get it to melt with pure willpower.

there’s shuffling going on behind the counter, but woojin forces himself to keep staring down so he wouldn’t be creepily watching after anyone that was just moving around.

“oh, hello!” a familiar voice says. it’s odd because woojin feels like he knows that voice- but he doesn’t know anyone who works here, does he?

he looks up, and--

“jihoon?” even though he had never asked where jihoon worked, he had always assumed it was at a retail store or something, maybe even a modeling agency where he’d just get paid to stand around and look pretty. (woojin has no idea how modeling works, but he figures that if he were a photographer, he’d pay jihoon for just _existing_.)

jihoon just laughs in response, tucking loose hair behind his ear; woojin takes the momentary lapse in conversation to appreciate how soft jihoon looks, covered in soft colors and rosy cheeks as he stands by the vibrant ice cream flavors around him.

“fancy seeing you two here.” jihoon smiles, and daehwi gives a salute back and a pat on woojin’s shoulder before just walking out and completely abandoning him.

for the millionth time since they’d met, woojin wishes he had nicer friends than daehwi.

“anyways,” jihoon straightens one of the spoons in its tin, “what’re you here for?”

there’s a twinkle in his eyes that says he knows _exactly_ why woojin’s there, but he probably wants to hear it since apparently all of woojin’s friends are sadistic jerks.

“i-” he starts, but then realization dawns on him and he doubles back. “wait a second, daehwi wants me to ask out your _coworker_?” woojin asks incredulously. “did you know about this?” he’s mortified enough at having to ask daehwi’s mystery guy out, but to do it in front of jihoon is just another punch in the chest.

“uh,” jihoon says very intelligently, somehow managing to stop woojin’s heart at the same time as fixing his name tag, “i think there’s a mistake.” he’s still smiling though, and even if it’s not as radiant as it had been a few moments earlier, it’s there and real and woojin feels himself crumble at the sight of it.

“what mistake?” he says carefully. for a moment, he considers that maybe daehwi dropped him off here to talk to jihoon before going to ask the actual guy out- but that’s too mean for daehwi’s tastes, so he pushes the idea aside and shifts from foot to foot as he tries to piece everything together.

“you’re not supposed to ask my coworker out.” jihoon says it like it’s simple, like he’s pointing out something so obvious and he’s just patiently waiting for woojin to finally understand. but woojin’s never been good at reading between the lines, at least not when it came to jihoon- he’s too busy overthinking and overanalyzing every comma and space (but no space greater than the one between them).

a few extended beats of tension finds woojin just as lost as before, eyes still flickering to the staff room where the coworker had disappeared to. he looks back at jihoon, but no matter how much he searches, he can’t find any answers in the older boy’s gaze.

“i don’t get it?” woojin admits finally, and if the defeat seeps far too heavily into his voice, jihoon doesn’t react.

jihoon laughs then, a tad too high-pitched to be completely genuine and carefree, but it’s still real enough, so woojin takes it in stride and hopes he’s the cause of the laughter.

“me.” jihoon coughs out, half-smile still stretched over his lips. “it’s me.” if anything, woojin’s flustered state only seems to make jihoon grin wider, almost as though it gave him the extra boost of assurance that nothing else could provide.

“what’s you?”

“it’s me, silly,” jihoon looks down, and although the shyness makes him look even cuter, it’s foreign and uncomfortable, enough to make woojin hesitate, “you’re supposed to ask me out.”

“what.” jihoon’s words don’t sink in for awhile, but they only manage to break the surface before woojin is mentally backpedalling and fighting the rosiness on his cheeks. “don’t mess with me, dude. what are you saying? that doesn’t make any sense.”

“i’m the guy that daehwi wants you to ask out. it’s me.”

woojin thinks debates very, very briefly if he should murder daehwi or bow down to him. (maybe bow and then murder, so daehwi can’t tell anyone about the bowing part. it seems fair.)

and then _oh_ , the words have finally hit the complete bottom and woojin is left gaping back at his best friend, staring as jihoon giggles across from him. he’s not the only one blushing anymore, at least, but jihoon still looks far more composed than he feels.

“so, are you going to ask me out, or what? because i really like you and i’ve been waiting for you to say something for a really, really long time.” jihoon’s grin still hasn’t slipped off his face, bright enough to convince woojin that if he dies from heart failure, he’d be glad that the last thing he sees is jihoon’s smiling face.

“um?” woojin pinches himself, doing his best not to wince when he realizes that this is, in fact, real life, and while his best friend likes him back (!!!), he still has to go through the whole nerveracking ordeal of _asking him out_.

but then, jihoon actually _likes_ him, so why is he overthinking it so much?

“when do you get off work? i’ll take you someplace nice.” woojin finally manages to grin back, snaggletooth on full display (because even with all of their time knowing each other, jihoon never forgets to mention how much he likes it).

“somewhere with chicken.” jihoon adds, and woojin laughs.

“for you, sure.”

 

\--

 

when jihoon’s shift ends not twenty minutes later (woojin spends the entire time sitting quietly at a table and grinning at jihoon like a dork), they manage to head out to a quiet chicken joint a few blocks away.

the entire restaurant smells like grease and smoke, but even with jihoon frowning at the menu underneath fluorescent lights, he makes the entire area seem like a castle.

“i can’t believe it took so long for daehwi to convince you.” jihoon mentions offhandedly once they place their orders. “like, i didn’t expect for you to be so against it? i don’t know.”

“i was in love with you, so why would i date someone else?” a roll of his eyes and a sip of his drink, but as soon as woojin looks across the booth he sees jihoon looking back at him with wide eyes and his mouth in an _o_.

“in love with me?”

“i mean.” woojin scratches the back of his neck. the chicken might have been a little too spicy- his collar feels a little uncomfortable around his throat. he’s almost tempted to ask jihoon for a sip of his water but for some reason, that only makes it worse. his stomach does a flip, and jihoon cracks a small, thrilled smile. “i guess? a little?”

“okay, because every time i told you i loved you, i meant it. i’m glad it’s mutual.” their feet bump into each other under the table, and woojin kicks at jihoon’s shin. “you’re an idiot, though. trust me next time, okay? i wouldn’t have told you to ask someone else out; i’m not going to let you go so easily.”

“well, you’re a bigger idiot.” the fries with jihoon’s dish look pretty good, so woojin snags a quick handful between sentences. jihoon makes an indignant noise, and woojin only grins back (whether jihoon’s upset over the fries or the insult is a toss-up, really). “you could’ve just asked _me_ out.”

“stop making me feel dumb,” jihoon bumps the heel of his shoe against woojin’s ankle, “we’re only on our first date. it’s too early for that.”

“who cares about it being early? you make me feel dumb too, so it all works out.” woojin gives another kick to jihoon’s leg before linking the ankles together. he stuffs another handful of fries in his mouth to busy himself, shoving some of his own in jihoon’s directions to appease the older boy. “now come on, we missed out on years of dating that we need to make up for.”

**Author's Note:**

> mdudes i really really hope you like this??  
> knowing this would be one of the first posted made me Nervous but i'm super excited to share this and read everyone else's fics!  
> i honestly had a lot of fun writing this, so i really hope it was enjoyable to read :)  
> sorry if it's not as fluffy or humorous as the prompter might've wanted, but i hope this was still entertaining regardless! <33


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